Across the province, thousands of CUPE Ontario members will wear pink on April 8 in recognition of the International Day of Pink. We wear pink on this day as part of our continuing stand against bullying, discrimination, homophobia and transphobia in our schools and communities.
The Day of Pink began in 2007, when two Nova Scotia high school students saw a male classmate being bullied for wearing a pink shirt. These witnesses didn’t just intervene, they mobilized. They organized students in their school to wear pink shirts two weeks later in a stunning show of solidarity. This “sea of pink” inspired people around the world to come together in the fight against homophobic and transphobic bullying.
CUPE members are no strangers to the important place our schools have in relation to bullying. Province-wide, more than 55,000 CUPE members, as school secretaries, educational assistants, custodial and maintenance workers, early childhood educators, library technicians, speech and language pathologists and in many other roles, play an important part in ensuring safe and harassment-free school environments. And, no matter where our members work, in municipalities, universities, in health care, social services or airlines, we all understand the importance of solidarity against the scourge of bullying.
CUPE Ontario members have a proud tradition of standing up against discrimination. We negotiate clauses into our collective agreements that prohibit discrimination, promote employment equity and create safe, harassment-free workplaces. We also have a strong tradition of political advocacy that has already helped extend many benefits and protections first realized through collective bargaining to all Ontarians. And, by working in coalition with community partners, we continue our work to end discrimination and harassment in our schools and throughout our communities.
Our continued commitment to be an active supporter of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights has lead this year to encourage members to write their MPPs in support of Bill 77, Cheri DiNovo’s new Affirming Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Act. This proposed legislation is another important step in removing legal sanction for discrimination against LGBT people. You can read more about it here.
We also encourage members to get involved in the upcoming federal election to support candidates who will take a strong stand against all forms of discrimination including homophobic and transphobic bullying. And, we’re very proud to say that the only political party that has official critics in both the Ontario Legislature and the House of Commons on LGBT issues is the New Democratic Party.
On April 8, join us in wearing pink — recommit to end all bullying and discrimination — and continuing to build strong unions who advocate for us all.
Sincerely,
Fred Hahn, President
Candace Rennick, Secretary-Treasurer
